1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner provided with an indoor part and an outdoor part integrated as one unit.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, air conditioner is installed at a window or the like of a building to air-condition an inner space of the building.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating appearance of a conventional air conditioner, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an inner construction of a conventional air conditioner.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional air conditioner includes a bottom base 1 of metal. Both sides and upper surface of the air conditioner are covered with a cabinet 3. The cabinet 3 has both lower ends coupled with both ends of the base 1, and an inner space for installing a variety of devices therein. An outdoor vent louver 4 formed at predetermined portions of the cabinet 3 functions as a passage through which outdoor air enters into the inside of the outdoor part of the air conditioner.
The air conditioner includes a front panel 5 at a front surface thereof, and the front panel 5 includes a vent grill 7. The vent grill 7 functions as a passage through which indoor air enters into the inside of the indoor part of the air conditioner. The front panel 5 has a discharge grill 9 at one side thereof. The heat-exchanged air in the air conditioner is discharged to an indoor space through the discharge grill 9. A filter is provided at a rear side of the vent grill 7 so as to purify the air entering the indoor part of the air conditioner.
An indoor heat exchanger 13 for exchanging heat with the air that has passed through the filter is installed at a rear side of the filter 11. The indoor heat exchanger 13 is installed at an air guide 15 installed on the base 1. The air guide 15 guides indoor side airflow within the air conditioner. Further, the air guide 15 partitions the inside of the air conditioner into the indoor part and the outdoor part in case a separate barrier is not used. An orifice 16 guides the air that has passed through the indoor heat exchanger 13 to an indoor fan 19.
At a rear side of the air guide 15, i.e., at the outdoor part of the air conditioner, a motor 17 is provided. The motor 17 has a rotary shaft extended in bi-directions. One end of the rotary shaft penetrates the air guide 15 to extend to the indoor part, and the other end extends in an opposite direction. The indoor fan 19 is installed at the one end extending to the indoor part, and an outdoor fan 21 is installed at the other end of the rotary shaft. The indoor and outdoor fans 19 and 21 allow the airflow of the indoor part and the air of the outdoor part respectively.
To guide the airflow of the outdoor part, a shroud 23 is installed at the base 1. The shroud 23 has a space for installing the outdoor fan 21 therein to allow air to flow from one side to the other side of the space partitioned by the shroud 23. An outdoor heat exchanger 24 is installed at a rear space partitioned by the shroud 23. Accordingly, if a compressor 25 is driven, the outdoor heat exchanger 24 is heat-exchanged with the outdoor air introduced into the outdoor part through the vent louver 4.
In the meanwhile, the compressor 25 constituting a heat-exchange cycle is disposed at the outdoor part of the base 1. An installation plate disposed below the compressor 25 is fixed to a fixing element installed on the base 1 by welding
However, the conventional air conditioner has the following drawbacks.
Since the base 1 is formed of a metallic plate, there is caused a drawback in that the overall weight of the air conditioner is increased. Also, since a number of parts should be individually installed on the base 1, the workability of the assembly process is lowered.
Further, since the air guide 15 installed on the base 1, for partitioning the base 1 into the indoor part and the outdoor part is installed separately from the base 1, there may be caused a drawback in that air leakage between the indoor part and the outdoor part is generated through a gap between the base 1 and the air guide 15 or outdoor noise is transmitted to the indoor space.
On the other hand, the fixing element is installed at the base 1 by a welding or the like. Then, the fixing state of the fixing element may be damaged due to a vibration generated from the compressor, etc. while the compressor is driven. In other words, a welded portion for fixing the fixing element to the base can be damaged due to repetitive vibration. In this case, the noise resulting from the compressor vibration is much increased, and a connection part between the compressor and the refrigerant tube is damaged.
Additionally, once the fixing element is equipped in a completed base pan through a separate process, an assembly process is added so that fabrication costs are increased.
Lastly, since the installation plate is fixed only by the fixing element in a compressor mounting structure, firmness and exactness in fixing is relatively lowered.